Adelante
mural's fourth panel recalls the early Mexican Independence celebrations in
Sterling - the first one recorded in a Daily Gazette news article from
1921. FOLKLORIC dancing continues today under the guidance of
volunteer teachers and enthusiastic children and youth of Sterling.

Mexican and Caribbean folk dances
[baile folklórico o danzas] hold center stage during 1999 September
Fiesta Days. The Grupo Alegría offers
classes during the year, so that the students can show off their dancing skills.
The students practice every week of the year, help out with fund-raising, along
with parents and instructors who get together to create the
dancers' costumes or import them from Mexico:

Regional dances and song from Chiapas, Jalisco, Veracruz and
Oaxaca are
highlights of the annual show, along with the famous Mariachi music that
originated in Jalisco and Michoacan, performed by the local musicians, "Cuerdas
Mexicanas."